Padres Reacquire Randy Myers

The San Diego Padres reacquired reliever Randy Myers Thursday, grabbing him off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays to give the NL West leaders a left-handed compliment to closer Trevor Hoffman.

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Myers, 35, was 3-4 with 4.46 ERA and 28 saves with Toronto. He'll give the Padres a tough lefty set-up man for Hoffman, who leads the majors with 37 saves.

"After looking at several guys, we thought, why not go after one of the best?" Padres general manager Kevin Towers said. "Having a guy like Myers pitching in the eighth and ninth, with him and Hoffman and (Dan) Miceli and (Donne) Wall, that gives us a strong bullpen."

"I think the one thing we've been looking for is a left-hander in th bullpen." "That's been one weakness we've had even since 1996," Towers said, referring to the year the Padres won their second NL West title.

Coincidentally, Hoffman lost for the first time this season Thursday, allowing Rico Brogna's RBI single in the 11th inning to give Philadelphia a 3-2 win.

"With Myers and Hoffman, we have two of the better closers in the game," Towers said. "We didn't have to give up three of our top prospects and didn't have to take away from the big league club."

Because the trade happened after the July 31 trading deadline, the waiver process came into play where teams can block proposed deals. No AL teams submitted a claim for Myers, and when the process went through the NL in the reverse order of the standings, the Padres submitted a claim.

The final team that could have submitted a claim was the Atlanta Braves, who are known to have been interested in Myers and lead the Padres by two games in the race for home-field advantage for the NL playoffs.

"That was part of our thinking," said Towers.

Towers said Myers told him he'd accept whatever role the Padres wanted him in.

"Sometimes the closer is up three or four days in a row, and it allows (manager Bruce) Bochy some flexibility," Towers said. "In that case, he can give Trevor a day off and use Myers."

Towers said Myers will try to be in San Diego for Friday night's game against Florida. Once he arrives, the Padres will have to move a pitcher off their 25-man roster.

The Padres originally got Myers from Cincinnati Dec. 8, 1991, for Bip Roberts. After going 3-6 with 38 saves and a 4.29 ERA in 1992, Myers was allowed to leave as a free agent as the Padres began a salary purge.

Myers has pitched in the playoffs four times, including in the 1990 World Series for the Reds, when he saved one game.

Myers is the fifth veteran moved by the Blue Jays in the past week, joining Mike Stanley, Juan Guzman, Ed Sprague and Tony Phillips.

Loyd, 24, was originally drafted by the Padres in the fifth round of the 1996 draft. He was hitting .305 with four home runs and 35 RBIs at Rancho Cucamonga in the California League.

The Blue Jays said Loyd will be assigned to Class A Dunedin of the Florida State League.

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